They didn’t start the fire…
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[3.70]
Katherine St Asaph: Classic-rock swirls, dance claps, Diplo, 2 Chainz, several protestations too much of lust: there’s no good way to approach this, but particularly bad is this approach of subliminal sexlessness.
[2]
Anthony Easton: Jessie J’s portion is more a formal exploration of the erotic, including well placed deep breathing, than an actual erotic text. 2 Chainz’s verses seem to come from another work entirely.
[4]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: It’s funny that 2 Chainz once rapped that he made a million “off a dinner fork,” and here he is with the biggest spoon of all.
[2]
Micha Cavaseno: Industry hacks coughing up something and offering it as a present happens way too often to inspire much creative venom. Shame they think this is gonna generate praise though, beyond “I never knew that someone could think ‘Let’s try to combine KT Tunstall and “Dark Horse” to prove how great that song was with such a shit offering’.”
[2]
Luisa Lopez: Predictably, the best parts are the hints that lead to 2 Chainz’s verse — the only moments that indicate this could be something a little wild and weird, capable of writhing instead of lying still.
[3]
Alfred Soto: She’s giving it lung power, Christina Aguilera style. The shows of soul are expressions of strain.
[3]
W.B. Swygart: See, I like that guitar at the start. I like how shamelessly it grandstands, how little fear it has of looking ridiculous. And then it gets wasted on yet another display of professionalism and effort from Jessie J, the constant sound of someone demanding they be given credit for performing the required elements as laid out in the grading criteria.
[4]
Scott Mildenhall: When Cheryl did this song she had the good sense to lather it in comedy horns; Jessie J’s plainer take is too close and tight — one-note — by comparison. On the one hand it’s a welcome cap on her more grating tendencies, but, on the other, your nails are getting a bit long, and cutting them would be more diverting.
[5]
Brad Shoup: The clapping is the most distinctive feature — and it’s going to be a lot for folks to take, I get that — but it’s the voices that eventually stepped to the front for me. There’s Jessie’s MJ impression right after referencing “Billie Jean,” the overheated hooting — almost like hysteric laughter — and 2 Chainz’s terse commentary before he gets to make his Oreo joke. It’s fantastic to see Jessie having fun on a track, especially one this ridiculous; I’m hoping she won’t look back.
[8]
Will Adams: Like most Jessie J singles, “Burnin’ Up” has tunnel vision for radio play, meaning that we’ve got another pile of pop signifiers on our hands without any thought to making them fit together. Gospel here, 2 Chainz there, and Pharrell-as-MJ vocal whoops everywhere, but a whole lot of nothing.
[4]